Neon began as a concept in late 1997 at DNA Records where John & Tiga worked, ordering & selling techno & electro from the likes of Dopplereffekt, The Advent, Anthony Rother & the Hacker. Electro had existed as a musical genre since day one, but hadn’t really stepped up to the limelight like it’s most current incarnation, & important labels like Gigolo & Montreal’s own Turbo Recordings were still in their infancy. DNA was looking for a weekly venue to house their eclectic mix of musical tastes, so along with long time partner & friend Justin, John & Tiga began to look for the perfect club night, one that would showcase minimal techno/house & electro. The challenge was that Techno was getting a little boring, everything seemed to lack character, after-hours clubs were dull & people weren’t partying anymore. The new DNA club night was to showcase a sound that had the hard edge of techno, mixed with the crossover potential of pop & punk, something people could really have fun listening too. The first round of club nights were called Cobra, their were only 4 Cobra events in all, all four featured Tiga & Thomas as the DJs & John as the Host, the events were a success, but never really settled in to a permanent home until finally Justin locked down the now defunct Jai bar as a weekly venue. Justin came up with the name NEON, & the night began week after week & the following began to grow. Eventually NEON would outgrow Jai & move in to a bigger & more creative space, the S.A.T & would launch the first in a series of nights dedicated to alternative electronics. The first event was to celebrate Tiga’s MIX CD, “American Gigolo” and was a huge success, drawing a total of 600 people & has gone down in history as one of Montreal’s most memorable party moments.
NEON would later book the likes of Miss Kitten & The Hacker, Crossover, FPU, Zyntherius, Black Strobe, Martini Bros & draw over capacity crowds to all of it’s events.

EVENTS

All of the NEON events have existed without any corporate sponsorship & have eluded all politics that surround usual club nights, there are no door people who choose who gets in & there are no bouncers guarding the DJ booth & VIP area, crowds are respected & they show respect back.
NEON is a collective of designers, musicians & artists, not promoters.